MVPav

The Windsor Star's Dave Waddell spoke to several Red Wings regarding their selection for the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP, and they agree that a Russian should win the award--but their Russian, Pavel Datsyuk, receives their nod over Evgeni Malkin or Alex Ovechkin:

February 11, Windsor Star: "I can't think of somebody who is a more complete (player) than Pavel," said Hossa, who has seven goals in his last five games heading into the Red Wings home contest [Thursday] against Minnesota. "He has the ability to control the puck. He plays well defensively in our zone. I think he's the best all-around player in the world right now."

Certainly in the past month there have been few better in the NHL. In his last 12 games, Datsyuk has six goals and 21 points while going a plus-15. The five-foot-11, 197-pound centre sits fourth in the NHL in scoring with 68 points, just a point back of Alexander Ovechkin and three behind Sidney Crosby. On the defensive end of the spectrum, the reigning Selke-Trophy winner ranks second in plus-minus (plus-30) and is leading the league in takeaways (64) for the third straight year.

"He's been going over a month now, back to December," defenceman Nick Lidstrom said. "It's both ends of the ice too. He's been really dominating some games and being the deciding factor in games. Some of the highlight goals he's scored, he should be considered as a Hart nominee."

As Waddell suggests, Datsyuk's relatively shy nature when the cameras and microphones are turned in his direction, combined with his Holmstrom-esque grasp of the English language, don't help him, but the Wings' resident master of all things sarcastic earns coach Mike Babcock's nod as the team's MVP for his not-so-quiet on-ice persona...

"I sure think so," Babcock said when asked if Datsyuk has been the best player in the league the past month. "Pavel always gets better as the year goes on. He never starts on fire, just gets better and better. He's his best at playoff time. Him and [Henrik] Zetterberg have some magic together. I think they play better together than they do apart. Pavel has got her going right now."

And Hossa may have found the perfect simile to describe Datsyuk's style of play:

"He's a special player," Hossa said. "He's a superstar player. When he comes into a situation where you think he's going to get hammered or hit ugly, all of sudden he turns, just like the Terminator (slithers) through the glass. It's unbelievable some situations how he has the puck on his stick and he goes through like nothing happened. Not many players can do that."